The nominees for the 2019 Poker Hall of Fame inductees have been announced. However, there is one name in there which debatably shouldn’t be. Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, despite his unholy role in the 2011 Black Friday events, may be honored this year.
What is the Poker Hall of Fame?
The Poker Hall of Fame was founded in 1979 by legendary casino owner Benny Binion. It’s an institution to honor people with exceptional careers in poker.
Each year, two new players are inducted. As of now, there’s 56 members, 30 of them are living.
Those 30 living members, along with 21 poker industry media workers are voting on the nominees. All members must be at least 40 years of age, and must be someone who has played poker on the highest level consistently for a long period of time.
Poker Hall of Fame 2019 Nominees – Chris Ferguson Among Them
This year’s nominees are Chris Bjorin, David Chiu, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Chris Ferguson, Ted Forrest, Mike Matusow, David Oppenheim, Chris Moneymaker, and Huck Seed.
Out of those 10 players, Chris Ferguson’s name merits further discussion.
Ferguson is one of the most hated people in poker. Due to his illegal activates as the director of the late online poker room Full Tilt, thousands of players lost their entire bankrolls.
Chris Ferguson was heavily involved in the Full Titl Scandal
It was discovered in 2011 that Full Tilt was using money on their players’ accounts to pay off their employees and shareholders. That was money they had no right to touch, since they need to collect it in rake or in tournament fees before it can land on the poker site’s account.
Ferguson completely disregarded that and essentially ran Full Tilt as a giant Ponzi scheme. The US Department of Justice took notice, indicted Ferguson and other members of the Full Tilt management and seized the money on the accounts.
As a result of this, thousands of players lost their money. Many of them haven’t received compensation to this day.
Chris Ferguson’s accomplishments as a poker player are undeniable. He’s one of the 11 players who have won 5 WSOP bracelets, and one of the 26 players in the history of the WSOP who have managed to win 5 or more.
In 2000, he won poker’s most coveted title, the WSOP Main Event.
Despite that, the fans of the game haven’t forgiven him. When he won the WSOP Player of the Year award in 2017, there was major backlash in the online poker community. Many rooted against him in tournaments so that someone else could get the title.
While playing events in the Rio, he had to be faced with the general public’s dislike of him in person.
What didn’t help his case is that when he returned to the WSOP in 2017, he formed a team with Howard Lederer in the $10K Tag Team event. Lederer was also indicted in the Full Tilt case.
Aaaaaaamd Chris “Judas” Ferguson takes the seat to our direct right in the WSOP tag team
— TJ Jurkiewicz (Randal_Graves) (@tjurk44) June 6, 2017
Ferguson made a public apology in 2018 – however, it wasn’t well received at all.
The Reactions
As of now, there doesn’t seem to be major uproar against his nomination.
Phil Hellmuth discussed the nominations on Twitter. However, he didn’t complain about Ferguson, rather he suggested Ted Forrest should have made the list.
The 2019 Poker Hall of Fame candidates. 9 deserving names, BUT one sticks out! How is Ted Forrest NOT in PHOF already? 6 @WSOP wins (Ferguson has 6 as well), a NBC Heads Up Championship, a @WPT win, and for over a decade: he played in biggest games in world, and vs best players! pic.twitter.com/1rT1n03Jne
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) June 23, 2019
Some people in the replies point out the issue with Ferguson’s name on the list of possible Hall of Famers.
Daniel Negreanu, who heavily criticized Ferguson when the Full Tilt scandal was unfolding in 2011, replied to one of those comments, voicing his agreement.
I don’t believe so
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) June 25, 2019
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